Sandiaga Uno: Potential Opportunities For the Halal Tourism Industry in Indonesia Are Very Promising

Bogor, UIN News Online – The Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said potential opportunities for the halal tourism industry in Indonesia are very promising. In addition to the fact that most of the Indonesia's population is Muslim, Indonesian halal tourism is also ranked first in the world's halal tourism.

This was said by Sandiaga Uno in his online speech at the 2022 Rakerpim event of UIN Jakarta on Tuesday (03/08/2022). Sandiaga said, in the global arena, halal tourism is a promising industry. This can be seen from the 2019 Mastercard Crescentrating Global Travel Market Index (GMTI) report, which predicts there will be 230 million Muslim tourists globally in 2026.

This is an increase from 2018 which was only around 140 million. In line with this prediction, the Global Islamic Economy Report also states that the circulation of money from world halal tourism is predicted to increase from US$177 billion in 2017 to US$274 billion in 2023.

According to Sandiaga, many countries are starting to seriously develop halal tourism because of the lucrative growth rate. In fact, the potential for halal tourism is developing in countries that are not members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), such as Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.

He also added that Indonesia had won an award in world halal tourism. In 2019 Indonesia was ranked first as the world's best halal tourism according to the GMTI version, outperforming 130 other participating countries.

“This certainly offers a great opportunity for the development of halal tourism for many stakeholders in Indonesia,” he said.

In addition, he continued, another big bonus for Indonesia is the number of Indonesians who are predominantly Muslim. This means that Indonesian residents who become tourists will drive the development of halal tourism in Indonesia.

This is an opportunity that can be utilized as best as possible, including by universities that can analyze the positive impact of halal tourism development, generate national economy, create jobs, and empower medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs).

With these opportunities, the crisis period due to the Covid-19 pandemic can be used as a momentum for the tourism sector and the creative economy to prepare for the recovery process by growing faster and competitively.

“We must face this year with full of optimism. Let's use this momentum by appreciating creativity, innovation and collaboration to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030,”said Sandiaga. (ns/usa)